dark purple area around vein after blood work?

Question: Friday night I went to the ER and they had to do blood tests. they didn't take it from the crease by the elbow but about two inches down from there. about five minutes after the blood was taken a rather large puffy dark purple area formed with a red line going through it. the total size is about 2 1/2 inches by 1 inch. it is kinda really sore also. Has anyone ever heard of or seen this happen.

Answers:
No worries-- this happens to me all the time. I have very small, delicate veins and very often I bruise after getting blood drawn because it's difficult for the person drawing the blood to get a needle in and out accurately. Sometimes if only a small amount of blood leaks out into the area surrounding the vein, I will get a small bruise. Other times, the practitioner has used a needle too large for my vein and has actually "blown through" my vein. This just means they poke a hole too large and blood is leaking out... it causes more pain and a bigger bruise, but always heals just the same.

The larger the bruise, the longer it takes to go away, so don't be surprised if you have that bad boy for over a week... maybe even two. If you don't see any improvement after a week, you should go back to the doctor. Meanwhile, try to avoid bumping it or touching it... just like you would with any bruise. :)

Other Answers:
yup you have a bruise from a small ammount of blood that leeked out when they took the blood

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They probably just bruised you. Ice it down. If it doesn't go away by one week time, or gets alot worse, go in to the doctor.

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I get those all the time when I have to get blood work done. It's just a bruise, takes about a week or two to go away. They hurt like a son of a #@!^& though so try not to bang into anything, it'll just make it worse.

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Bruise. Don't tense muscle next time.

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This is a bruise from where they took blood. If you were to have iced it when you got home, it would not be as big.

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You have a bruise at the site of entry of the needle. Nothing to worry about happens to me more often than not. I have to have blood work done frequently and just expect to have a bruise for
few days to week.

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